As people were relishing their Christmas and New Year, people living and working at Monkey Village, Opebi area of Lagos State south-west Nigeria were experiencing what they described as a nightmare in daylight.
Their houses and places of work were destroyed according to them without prior notice.
Space.com with Gimalo went to this community to assess the situation and to also find out how they’ve been coping since the demolition.
According to one of the Residents, Mr. Adebayo Williams, Monkey Village was a swamp in the 90s. A certain group of individuals came together to make it liveable and also a place where people can make a livelihood.
It is called Monkey Village because before the occupants filled the swamp, a large of array monkeys lived there and one or two can still be seen today.
Some people still residing there said they have nowhere to go to, while some already left. Men, women and children still live and work there even after the demolition. They complained there were ants, mosquitoes and snakes to deal with too.
The were sad that the government that came to campaign before thethe elections could do such a thing to them.
We also learnt that before they occupied the space, they didn’t go through any legal process. This we envisaged was why Lagos state Government decided to demolish the place.
The place is not only occupied by women and children, there are also thugs who turned out to be hostile to us.
Monkey Village story is a whole peice. On Space.come, we’ll fill you on our encounter with this community and the reason why the Lagos state Government demolished the place.
Watch out for this on ln24-7 News.
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